Events

LAS VEGAS - Sears announced that it has launched a new social media initiative called the Sears Blue Blogger Crew, which is dedicated to providing knowledgeable, industry bloggers the opportunity to engage in consumer electronics announcements, events and activities throughout the year. 

This should be interesting. “Target: Inside the Bullseye” is scheduled to air on CNBC Thursday, Jan. 13 at 9 p.m. EST. The documentary will repeat that evening at 10 p.m., 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. and will also re-air again on Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Executives from The Container Store and Urban Outfitters are among the retailers who will be honored at the National Retail Federation’s Annual Convention and EXPO, or BIG Show, which will be held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City, Jan. 9-12, 2011.

The recipients will accept their awards during the show’s Annual Retail Industry Luncheon on Tuesday, Jan. 11.

The annual NRF Convention & EXPO has a strong history, and while the show’s early concept has evolved over the last century, its message remains the same: to bring together industry decision makers who want to find ways to drive their business.

Some attendees often question why NRF is held in New York City during January, when the weather can be downright brutal. But the reason is easy.

As retailers gather in New York City for the National Retail Federation’s Annual Convention and EXPO The new, post-recession American shopper is high maintenance, promiscuous and demands an innovative and engaging experience in-store and online. That’s the takeaway from a study released by Leo Burnett’s marketing services arm, Arc Worldwide .

New York City -- Barnes & Noble reported a preliminary same-store sales increase of 9.7% for the nine-week period ended on Jan. 1, led by the popularity of its Nook e-readers (the figure includes Nook devices sold in stores but not on its website). Last week, Barnes & Noble said the Nook had become its best-selling single item ever.

Barnes & Noble, which put itself up for sale in August, introduced the Nook in 2009 in a bid to compete with Amazon.com's market-leading Kindle and win a share of the growing digital books market.

Due to the blizzard in New York City and resulting travel delays, the deadline for entries in Chain Store Age’s 29th annual Retail Store of the Year design competition has been extended until Tuesday, January 4, 2011.

For more information/entry form, go to chainstoreage.com/retail-store-year-0 or e-mail [email protected].

New York City -- A survey released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs found that chain-store sales for the week ended Dec. 25 rose 4.8% from the year-earlier period, the best performance since April 24.

According to the survey, on a week-over-week basis, sales gained 1%.

New York City -- A report released Monday by Advisor One said that while it’s still too early to know the final outcome of the Christmas shopping season, it’s already clear that it’s been a record season for online retail.